5 Million Person Torch Run To help raise awareness and support for the Special Olympics movement across Japan, prefectures and municipalities are collaborating on the 5 Million Person Torch Run. Since September 2004, runners have carried the Special Olympics torch through more than 200 locations in 47 prefectures across Japan. The 5 Million Person Torch Run makes its way through Tokushima Prefecture, which is located in the Eastern part of Shikoku. [Photo courtesy of Tokushima's 5 Million Person Torch Run Web site] The primary objective in staging this event is to foster understanding and raise awareness of Special Olympics. The event is also designed to promote inclusion and acceptance of differences, to educate people about volunteering and to support the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games. The project is in fact a program of events, the focal point of which will be the Torch Run itself. The aim in staging the events is to encourage as many people as possible to participate in as many locations around Japan as possible. Yuko Arimori at the 2004 Special Olympics Nippon National Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, which served as the Preliminary Games for the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Arimori is one of Japan's most popular sports legends; her silver medal in the marathon at the 1992 Olympic Games was the first track and field Olympic medal for a Japanese woman for 64 years, but her humanitarian work keeps her in the spotlight. She founded Hearts of Gold in 1998, a non-governmental organization that aims to offer hope to handicapped people around the world through sports, while also raising funds for victims of landmines in Cambodia. She was appointed UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador in 2002 and is the Chairperson of the 5 Million Person Torch Run Promoters and Supporters Association. [Photo credit: Nagaya/Kishimoto] The 5 Million Person Torch Run began on 11 September 2004 in a spectacular ceremony at Tokyo’s Roppongi Arena. In a ceremony of songs and dances, a cauldron was lit with the flame lit at the Aso Shrine at Mt. Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture on 4 September. The flame was then divided into small lamps by Kayoko Hosokawa, Chairperson of the 5 Million Person Torch Run, and handed over to the representatives of all 47 prefectures. On behalf of the 5 Million Person Torch Run Committee, Yuko Arimori, the silver medalist in the marathon at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the bronze medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, declared the launch of the 5 Million Person Torch Run. "Running with other people, speaking to other people; there seem to be lots of things I can do. If you've heard about Special Olympics, think about what you're capable of doing, and take action," said Arimori, Chairperson of the 5 Million Person Torch Run Promoters and Supporters Association. < Visit the 5 Million Person Torch Run Web site — Japanese language > At the culmination of the 5 Million Person Torch Run, the individual flames will be recombined in Tokyo to await the arrival of the flame that will be brought from Athens, Greece, by the Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg runners on 17 February. On the evening of 18 February 2005, at Matsumoto Castle, one of the Nagano Prefecture’s cultural landmarks, the flames will be combined to form the "Flame of Hope." Then, each day from 20-24 February, two Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg Teams will run the torch in tandem through Nagano Prefecture, arriving in Nagano City on for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games on 26 February. To keep the spirit of the "Flame of Hope" burning long after the 2005 World Winter Games, the Law Enforcement Torch Run also will be part of the Special Olympics Japan National Games held in summer 2006 and in winter 2008. Below, a large celebration 7 November 2004 greets the 5 Million Person Torch run in Kanagawa Prefecture, located in the west of Tokyo Metropolis. [Photo courtesy of Kanagawa's 5 Million Person Torch Run Web site]